An actual argument I recently saw:
Person B: “Any site which contains slurs against trans people in its sign up process is unreliable” (was referring to k!wifarms)
Person A: “Slurs aren’t considered bad in most countries”
Person B: “That doesn’t justify their usage. For example, conversion therapy isn’t considered bad or banned in most countries, that doesn’t mean conversion therapy is justified or good.”
Person A: “What are you talking about? Conversion therapy is banned in most countries”
Person B: “Shows a diagram showing that conversion therapy is only banned in a handful of countries”
Person A: “I mean in most civilized countries”
I’ve seen lots of other people refer to countries as civilized or uncivilized in similar contexts. Is this generally considered to be racist?
Designating a country as “uncivilised” is gravely offensive, and immensely arrogant. No country would refer to itself as uncivilised. There are a few which may be lawless, or ungovernable, but uncivilised has connotations that just don’t apply.
Edit: I’m kind of astonished at the comments ITT. I must have an odd idea of what “uncivilised” means. It’s not simply a lower standard of living. Living in poverty does not make someone uncivilised. If a group of people have a culture and laws then they’re civilised. In this context, suggesting that a group of people is uncivilised is to suggest that their culture is so pathetic as to be non-existent. A common error in the colonial era, but I’m genuinely surprised so many comments here are making the same mistake.
What you’re seeing is western privilege and ignorance. What people aren’t realizing is that “civilized” has often meant “western-white culture”.
Native American weren uncivilized, they were not-white and not-western, and so on.
Yes, caling another culture “uncivilized” is offensive and racist.